Fifty Years For Nothing
by EmmettMcFly55
Summary: After Citizen Martin has left his office, First Citizen Emmett Lathrop Brown gradually comes to a depressing and shocking realization about his life and work. Hole-filler for Back to the Future: The Game, set in Episode 3.


**Disclaimer: I still haven't achieved any progress towards owning BTTF. Which is really strange, because as Doc Brown says, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. **

_Author's Note: All right, this is the first Back to the Future: The Game-based fanfiction story I've ever posted (and probably the last too, at least in a while). "I'll Be Back In Time" has and will have references to it due to it having a similar (but hardly identical) storyline at some places, but it's not really a fanfic based on the Game's continuity. If you haven't played the Game before, you should, or you could just watch one of the dozens of Let's Play's on YouTube, or look up the summary which is also at various places online. It's pretty good. Not canon, of course, but out of the main semi-canon works (The Animated Series, The Ride, The Game) I'd say it's the best.  
_

_Anyway, if you have played/watched/read about the Game, then know that this story takes place in Episode 3, in-between the scene where Marty is talking to Citizen Brown in his office (before going off to get his Dad's tapes) and the final scene at the end. Contains spoilers, of course, but we were entering this paragraph on the assumption that you already know all about them, weren't we? And well, that's pretty much all I'll say for now. Except, of course, "Please read and review". It's standard by now, but I'll just repeat it anyway. So, yeah. Please review.  
_

**Fifty Years For Nothing**

**Thursday, May 15, 1986  
05:30 PM PDT  
Courthouse  
Hill Valley, California**

"Please do. I'm very busy. I've got a city to run."

"Fine. But I'll be back – with proof."

Moments after young Martin McFly had spoken these words with a determination he'd not expected from the youngster – of course, he hadn't been expecting _anything_ Martin had done today – First Citizen Emmett Lathrop Brown heard the door shut behind him. He didn't bother to look around to assure himself that Martin was gone. Instead, he just kept staring at the clock gears with a look of determination in his face.

Of course, if he had really meant all of what he'd just told the teen, he would go back to work right away. He did have to run Hill Valley, after all, and that was no easy task. As much as Edna assisted him and took work out of his hands, he still knew that one day, he would have to retire. He had been doing this job for so long, and it seemed to be getting harder each year. And _he _was not getting younger.

He could not bring himself to return to his duty right away, though. Young Martin's words had shaken him up more than he had imagined. If they were true, his whole life was turned upside-down. An alternate world. One in which he hadn't married Edna. One in which he had invented a time machine. Had _kids_. And it was all very plausible, too, since he had, in fact, recognized Harry. Harry Callahan, the boy he had been friends with in 1931. The boy who had helped him build his rocket powdered drill, who had been there on the night he had brought Kid Tannen to justice. Citizen Brown even vaguely remembered Harry playing a minor role in that imprisonment. It all made sense. Martin McFly and Harry Callahan had to be one and the same – which meant that time travel had to exist.

But if Martin McFly was telling the truth, then he was also telling the truth about what else he had told him. About Hill Valley. About people _not being happy_.

First Citizen Brown gritted his teeth, turning away from the clock face and towards the paperwork on his desk. His eye fell once more on the picture, which was still lying in the middle of it all. He tried to look at his own younger self, at him and Edna, on the day their lives changed for good. But all his eyes were drawn to were the figurines in the back of the picture, standing in the gazebo: him, and Martin McFly.

He resisted the urge to simply throw the picture off the desk and be done with it. Not only would it get damaged – and he did remain fond of it after all those years – but it would bring his office into disorder, his desk and the floor in front of it. Furthermore, if Edna ever heard of his loss of temper, she wouldn't be happy. People needed to be in control of themselves, she had often told him. And he of course especially needed to be in control of himself, being the administrator of an entire town.

He was busy, of course. Looking at the files on his desk, he had to fill in forms on the return of the stray dog – not that same Einstein, definitely _not_ Einstein – to the kennel, fill in ones about the relationship to the outside world and government, and review reports about the orderly procedure of schedules of Hill Valley citizens, both in the more orderly and the more disorderly sectors. Fortunately, he had already covered Sector L in depth the day before – that way, he didn't need to come across the file on Martin McFly. Then, there was the prohibition regulation and the new guidelines for awarding demerits that had to be followed, and in theory there were the complaints of the citizens. Of course, after half a century of hard work, Hill Valley was orderly enough so that those were rarely necessary.

Citizen Brown stared at the files in his hand, and sighed. He was working so hard for his citizens every day that the mere thought of them being unhappy had sent him into a fury. How _dare_ he! That blatant lie, yet spoken with such conviction, was the surest proof of Martin's insanity that he had. Everything he knew told him that. His entire life's experience told him that. Determined, he got to work, ignoring the file about the stray dog for now even though it was theoretically supposed to come first and was getting overdue, especially with the deviation from his schedule (the horror) due to his meeting with Citizen Martin. It was getting near six, and if he wished to stick to his daily schedule, he would have to increase his work pacing.

And yet, even as he started penning down and reading forms, one nagging voice in his head remained alert, the one of his curiosity. It was an idle and silly voice, of course, but whenever someone told you something you always considered the possibility of it being truthful, and so did Citizen Brown now. And thus, the increasing fear that Martin was right was looming in the back of his mind, seriously scaring him.

If his citizens were unhappy – if they felt like they were living in a police state, if they felt that his administration wasn't taking care of them like a father to his children, but _oppressing_ them – then were they doing the right thing? _Had_ they been doing the right thing, not just in the last few months, but all these years? Those were the questions such thoughts created, and it would be hard to find an answer to them that confirmed with his lifelong view of the world around him.

Liberty, free will, certainly, those were concepts he had pondered before. He had argued about them as well, most of all with his wife, who was convinced that some people were inherently unreliable and could not be stimulated to turn into good Hill Valley citizens. Citizen Brown knew his lovely spouse held a more pessimistic and cynical worldview than he did, and they had had their discussions about people like Biff Tannen and what to do with them several times. He had lost most of the time, too, due to Edna's determination, and eventually he had _de facto_ relegated the Citizen Plus procedures to her. She was the most emotionally invested in them anyway, and thus more likely to do the patients justice.

Edna might be able to reassure him when it came to Martin, too, Citizen Brown pondered. Perhaps he could talk to her later that day and she would be able to put his mind to rest about that matter – and even make him feel ashamed for falling for it, however briefly. There would be little time, of course, as they both had busy lives. He couldn't remember the last time they had celebrated Christmas or any other public holiday, religious or otherwise, together. 1981? No, he had been forced to call it off at the last minute then. 1979? No, then _she_ had called it off. He believed it had been in 1976, but he wasn't really sure. The work, his work, was everywhere he went. (Not that he often left this office, but anyway). And schedules needed to be kept or, if there was to be any deviation, _exceeded_.

Under that motto Citizen Brown continued to work for minutes straight, which in turn turned into longer units of time. The clock gears ticked comfortingly behind him, the sound the same as it had always been, or at least since the 1976 renovation. And yet, his thoughts continued to dwindle to matters Martin had spoken about. Such as when he had asked him if he was happy in the alternate world. _"Extremely happy! You've got two great sons…" _

He had never had children to pass on the family legacy. He and Edna had never had time for them, and their lack of physical interaction in later years had further contributed to the issue. He was okay with that, happy with it… or at least so he'd thought. However, the words Marty had spoken so resolutely stirred… feelings inside him, thoughts… the wish to be a father to actual children, to fill that emptiness in his life…

"Nonsense" he told himself out loud, and then chastised himself for Edna would disagree – and rightly so – if he was talking to himself again for no reason. He was even surprised himself, as he'd thought he had set aside that silly habit long ago. Anyway. Determined, Citizen Brown took his pencil, made sure his glasses fit well, and went back to work.

He thus managed to work for another hour or so, but distraction prevailed, to the point that at some moment he read back at what he had written and was aghast at the mistakes he had made. It of course ended up costing him extra time, which forced him to increase the speed once more. He really hoped Edna wouldn't walk in at any point and see his exorbitant delay. And even as he realized how late it was getting and that he was experiencing the biggest schedule delay he'd had in months, his thoughts continued to wander off to that one subject of Martin McFly. At times they would be less there, at times they would be more there, but it would remain one consistent thing throughout that he would consider Martin, and wondered what the teen was doing at that very moment.

It was nearing seven when he got another distraction by a knock on the door, which he didn't even hear the first time. "Come in" he said gruffly.

The door squeaked open, and Officer Parker stepped inside, appearing nervous. "Your Honor, there has been a… problem, down below" he said, softly.

Citizen Brown fully turned his attention to him. "Explain yourself, officer."

Officer Parker cast his gaze down, intimidated. "Sir, I'm afraid I saw Mister Tannen… I saw him jump… he jumped, head-first, into the decycling bin."

For a moment, Citizen Brown remained perplexed, utterly surprised at such an action which went straight against the behavior the Citizen Plus Program had taught the subject. "Great Scott! But how could that… I mean…" he stammered. Within a few seconds, though, he regained control over himself. "Thank you, officer" he replied. "I will check it personally."

"You're welcome, Your Honor." Daniel Parker left and closed the door behind him.

The echo of the door shutting had barely had its chance to blow through the room when Citizen Brown stood up and briskly walked down the path towards the big wooden doors, getting through and entering the hallway. The guards standing on the ends of the hallway snapped to attention as he passed them, but he paid them little regard. His thoughts were with the Citizen Plus project, and what could have gone wrong with it. Was this a designer flaw, one he had overlooked? A fundamental error, or a minor discrepancy? Citizen Brown increased his steps, as he realized that especially his wife wouldn't like this. She _hated_ disorder, and a flaw in the program which _she_ did the daily work on… even if they had had the full evening to themselves, the mood would already have been ruined.

Come to think of it, was that Edna's voice he was hearing coming from the basement? Calling Biff's name? The inventor stopped, momentarily confused. Had Edna already found out about the problem? Cautious, he moved forwards. He didn't want to get himself caught on the receiving end of his wife's wrath. No wonder she was shouting at Biff, for doing something like this.

As he got closer, he could discern their voices. Edna was saying… something about him? Something like him being namby-pansy… the mere thought made him stop. Why would his wife say something like _that_ about him? And then there was Biff, who sounded kind of… strange… and then there was…

"Biff! Look! Girlie mags!"

The third voice had sounded faintly familiar at first, but he couldn't place it. Now that he had heard this shout, though, it only took him a second. "Martin?" Citizen Brown whispered to himself, stunned. What was _he _doing down there? The last time he'd seen the youth, he was off to find evidence to 'prove' that Hill Valley citizens were unhappy…

"Tannen! Listen to me!" That was Edna, but much more authoritative than he'd ever heard her. Reluctantly, Citizen Brown peered through the window. That was Edna all right, with Martin, and Biff… the latter of which indeed seemed to be ill. He was staring around at the confiscated contraband that had been dumped into the Decycling Bin.

"Babes!" Biff exclaimed, causing Edna to slap him in the face, hard. Citizen Brown drew back from shock. "Booze!" Biff then called out, looking at bottles of alcohol. Edna tapped him on his shoulder, and Biff subsequently stared at her in a subservient way… almost like he was hypnotized. Then, he looked around, stared at the remaining items, at Edna, yelled "What the faah! Mommy?"

Citizen Brown, however, wasn't paying much attention to Biff, as a flash hit his mind. The obedient, hypnotized way Biff had been behaving… Edna's demands, Biff's reaction to the contraband…

X-11. It couldn't be, as he'd rejected it… but he…_she_… it was the only explanation…

"Tannen!" Edna shouted, getting him back to the present. "Get up you useless slacker!" What had she been trying to do to him? What did she want to let him do? _To Martin? _

"Oh, come on Edna," Martin chastised her, "give the poor jerk a break!" Once more, Citizen Brown was struck by Martin's… odd… vocabulary.

He was, however, even more struck by Edna's reaction. "A break, you say?" she said, disgusted. "You sound just like my wishy-washy husband." Was he _wishy-washy_ now? "Always trying to find the good in people. Never wanting to accept the fact that _some_ people are just born bad!"

Memories entered his brain, about the disagreements they had always had about the subject. Was this what it was about? Why Edna had apparently… perverted his program? Was this what she'd been trying to do all these years? Trying to talk him into things… only for brainwashing people? "Great Scott…" he whispered, stunned.

He didn't even register what Martin was saying, but apparently it was something about his father's tapes. Was that what he'd been after? The proof that the people were unhappy, afraid of him and his administration… and now Edna had erased it?

As much as he hated admitting it, that horrible truth seemed to be right, as he saw Martin run over to the video cameras, which were empty. The look of Edna's smiling face in reaction to that made his blood nearly boil over. The thought that she'd been doing all this behind his back… and was erasing evidence to keep it that way…

"Utopias are fragile things, Mr. McFly" Edna said. "Especially when overseen by minds as… distractible, as my husband's."

All right, that did it. Citizen Brown opened the door and entered. He wanted to be angry, but inside he only felt intense, deep disappointment. The thought that she'd been lying to him, and all for these horrible schemes, that she had deceived him all these years... it just made him feel defeated, ashamed, humiliated. "Edna…"

His wife turned to him, stunned. "Emmett! What are you doing here?"

Citizen Brown stared at her, his facial features hardening, as he tried to keep himself under control. "I came down here to investigate a troubling report involving Mr. Tannen" he started.

"Doc," Martin interrupted him, "you've got to stop her, she…"

"SILENCE!" Citizen Brown snapped. He was here to get to the bottom of this issue with Edna, and he wasn't about to allow a distraction divert him from evaluating the extent of her deceit.

"O-kay" Martin stammered, surprised.

Citizen Brown turned back to his wife, still in the same berating tone yet inside boiling with ever more anger. "I was concerned there might be a flaw in the Citizen Plus program. Imagine my surprise when I found my _wife_, _perverting_ my life's_ work_!"

Edna stared to the ground, not looking so much ashamed for what she did than ashamed for being caught in the act. That, if anything, made him even angrier. "Is _this_ what it's all been about Edna? All those years? All our struggles to cure society's illnesses, just to create a world where free will can be turned off _with the flick of a switch_?!"

His wife took his hand. "Oh please, Emmett," she insisted, "you wanted this just as much as I did. Remember? If only we could tell someone to stay off the grass, and so help us, they would never tread on a well-manicured lawn again! _That's_ what Citizen Plus does – it makes rules unbreakable!" True enough, but also so wrong now. "I only gave it the _slightest_ of changes –"

That pathetic excuse, that _attempted justification_ of what she'd done sent Citizen Brown's temper to the roof. He snapped his hands loose. "ENOUGH! We will _not_ have this discussion here!" He pointed at the door and softened his voice slightly even as she attempted to interrupt yet again... but he wouldn't have any of that, not anymore. "Go home and _wait_ for me."

Edna looked at the ground, actually appearing to be broken for a moment, but then she straightened up and got her familiar stubborn look. "Fine" she curtly answered, and walked out of the door with an air as if she were the one with the right to feel offended.

Citizen Brown could not maintain his composure, his anger, after she had gone. Instead, he just felt emptiness and lack of purpose. His whole life, everything he had strived for, all he had ever dreamed for except perhaps the tiniest beginnings… all had fallen apart. He was beginning to feel ashamed for what he had done, feel contempt for his behavior… but the feeling he perhaps felt most was that of waste.

_We've worked for over fifty years, my wife and I. Every waking moment devoted to ridding Hill Valley of vice and disorder… _

Yes, waste it was. And even as he dragged himself through the former speakeasy towards the monitors, sank down on his knees, and raged at the heavens… even as Martin stared at him with sympathy mixed with confusion… even as he asked Father to judge what he'd done, and _knew_ he had been found wanting… in the midst of all that one sharp conclusion was making itself clear, clearer than all other emotions he felt.

All those years of his life he had been with Edna and had worked alongside her, accomplishing her aims when he thought he was doing good, following her advice even when he instinctively disagreed, those fifty years had truly been for nothing.


End file.
